Matthew 24:1–28

Jesus Speaks of the Destruction of the Temple

24Jesus left and was going away from the Temple when his disciples came to him to call his attention to its buildings. ²“Yes,” he said, “you may well look at all these. I tell you this: not a single stone here will be left in its place; every one of them will be thrown down.”

Troubles and Persecutions

³As Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him in private. “Tell us when all this will be,” they asked, “and what will happen to show that it is the time for your coming and the end of the age.”

⁴Jesus answered, “Be on your guard, and do not let anyone deceive you. ⁵Many men, claiming to speak for me, will come and say, ‘I am the Messiah!’ and they will deceive many people. ⁶You are going to hear the noise of battles close by and the news of battles far away; but do not be troubled. Such things must happen, but they do not mean that the end has come. ⁷Countries will fight each other, kingdoms will attack one another. There will be famines and earthquakes everywhere. ⁸All these things are like the first pains of childbirth.

^9*“Then you will be arrested and handed over to be punished and be put to death. All nations will hate you because of me. ¹⁰Many will give up their faith at that time; they will betray one another and hate one another. ¹¹Then many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. ¹²Such will be the spread of evil that many people’s love will grow cold. ^13*But whoever holds out to the end will be saved. ¹⁴And this Good News about the Kingdom will be preached through all the world for a witness to all nations; and then the end will come.

The Awful Horror

^15*“You will see ‘The Awful Horror’ of which the prophet Daniel spoke. It will be standing in the holy place.” (Note to the reader: be sure to understand what this means!) ¹⁶“Then those who are in Judea must run away to the hills. ^17*Someone who is on the roof of his house must not take the time to go down and get his belongings from the house. ^18*Someone who is in the field must not go back to get his cloak. ¹⁹How terrible it will be in those days for women who are pregnant and for mothers with little babies! ²⁰Pray to God that you will not have to run away during the winter or on a Sabbath! ^21*For the trouble at that time will be far more terrible than any there has ever been, from the beginning of the world to this very day. Nor will there ever be anything like it again. ²²But God has already reduced the number of days; had he not done so, nobody would survive. For the sake of his chosen people, however, God will reduce the days.

²³“Then, if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or ‘There he is!’—do not believe it. ²⁴For false Messiahs and false prophets will appear; they will perform great miracles and wonders in order to deceive even God’s chosen people, if possible. ²⁵Listen! I have told you this before the time comes.

^26*“Or, if people should tell you, ‘Look, he is out in the desert!’—don’t go there; or if they say, ‘Look, he is hiding here!’—don’t believe it. ^27*For the Son of Man will come like the lightning which flashes across the whole sky from the east to the west.

^28*“Wherever there is a dead body, the vultures will gather.